


The Keepers of Bells & Books

by Frankie_in_the_Ferns



Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Compliant, Fanart, Folklore, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Norwegian Mythology & Folklore, Slice of Life, Swedish Mythology & Folklore, Trolberg, set before the series takes place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28563645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frankie_in_the_Ferns/pseuds/Frankie_in_the_Ferns
Summary: Anders, the newest Keeper of the Bell, gets up to shenanigans and hijinx in his ongoing effort to conserve and protect the city and creatures of Trolberg. Along the way, he will make new friends and thrilling discoveries in a land of myth, magic, and mystery.Updates every Monday!
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. The New Bell Keeper

Anders made his sandwiches with expert precision. Butter, cheese, and mackerel packed with tomato in a can, in the classic _matpakke_ tradition. Boring, perhaps, but efficient.

Keys. Uniform. Raincoat. Flashlight. Lunch. Swiss Army Knife. Hair elastics. Cellphone. Wallet. Bell. He patted himself down as he went through his mental checklist, ensuring he had everything he could need to begin his first shift as a Keeper of the Bell.

The air was crisp in that way it sometimes is in the mornings. Anders could see the deep blue of the night sky slowly giving way to the soft dawn light over the wall. He had been nervous that moving from his parents' house in central Trolberg to the Bell Keeper’s Cabin out on the edge of town would be an uncomfortable new reality to contend with. In reality, he found himself enjoying this place. He had almost forgotten to lock the door to his new residence. His key ring was filled with a key for each of the towers around the city, giving it a bulk that made him feel very official.

With almost no sound at all, the keys were snatched from his hand. There was a flutter of feathers against his face and made him need to sneeze. A pigeon was flying in circles above his head, the new sun reflecting off the shiny facets of Anders’ keyring in its clutches.

Anders had never been much for cursing, and he didn’t think it would reflect well upon his new post as a Keeper. Instead, he bent over to gather some rocks from the path. He aimed right beside the bird, in an attempt to scare it into dropping the keys. Pigeon-meat didn’t taste very good, so no point in killing it unless absolutely necessary.

He had fired off three shots, and had thought his aim was pretty good today, when something wet landed on the side of his head. No point in trying to convince himself it could be rain - there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Better to face up to the fact that a pigeon had just unloaded its breakfast on his head.

Anders felt the anger surge within him, the curse word on his tongue.

“Stupid bird!” He spat the words with all the ferocity of a troll, but he only succeeded in making himself feel like a petulant child. He very nearly shook his fist at the creature, but he thought better of it. People in the area might be waking up just about now.

A new tact, perhaps. He pulled out one of his sandwiches from the pocket of his yellow raincoat and unwrapped the top of the paper packaging. He ripped little pieces of bread from the top crust and made a little circle of the bait on the rocky path. His mother had always told him that circles were always the optimal shape for anything concerning nature.

He thought he saw the pigeon circling lower. It made little sounds as it flew, which almost sounded like squeaky little voices in protest. Curious.

Anders nearly pumped his fist as the creature fluttered to the ground, but once again he thought better of it. Any sudden movements could scare the creature off. He crept closer, as stealthily as he could manage. His clothes, however, were all brand new standard-issue Bell Keeper uniform, and the soles of his boots creaked at the same time his shirt fabric scratched against his raincoat. The pigeon hopped away to peck at the other side of the circle.

Attempt number two. Anders avoided the crunchy path and walked on the patchy grass. Every time he got close, the pigeon hopped a bit further away. It kept putting down the keyring, which it was now holding in its mouth, to peck at the bread. It would then quickly snatch the keys back up and escape his advances. It was taunting him.

He felt his foot give way beneath him, and his knee twisted slightly as the world tilted to the left. A hole in the ground had enveloped his leg up past his knee. There was empty space below the ground here, so the hole must belong to some burrowing creature. A mole, perhaps.  
Anders rotated his foot to make sure nothing was broken, and then he began to laugh. Bird crap leaking into his ear, his keys stolen by a pigeon, his leg stuck in a hole, both his cabin and the belltower locked-up tight, and on top of all that he was nearly fifteen minutes late for his shift. Not that there would be anyone around to check-up on him.

He fished his cellphone out of his pocket and thumbed the little buttons a bit too hard. A list of contacts a mile long and - surprise surprise - still no one he wanted to share this wonderful experience with. He considered calling Reynold, the previous Bell Keeper at this post and his trainer for the past two weeks, but he was simply too embarrassed. He considered calling his mother, but he couldn’t think of how she might help in this situation. He felt his frustration swell to outright anger, and before he could stop his hand he had thrown his phone. It bounced against the brown stonework of the city wall and hit the ground with a thud.

Defeated, he sat on the ground with his leg in the hole and began to eat his sandwich. It was pretty good, all told. People in this part of the world had lunch just about perfected - utilitarian and not too flashy. The only change Anders made was to do away with open-faced sandwiches; putting the two pieces of bread together was the only way to go when you needed some food on the go.  
He didn’t really care anymore. Maybe the pigeon just wanted some company. Ripping off a sizable chunk of sandwich, Anders tossed it on the ground nearby.

“Come and get it, bud. As long as I’m stuck here we might as well share.”

To his surprise, the pigeon came a little closer. Anders ate his sandwich, trying to seem nonchalant. The pigeon dropped the keyring by his foot and began pecking at the sandwich crust with zeal.

Anders forced himself to finish his sandwich before flopping his body over, leg still stuck fast in the ground, to grab his keys. The sudden motion scared the pigeon and sent it careening into the air with half a sandwich crust still in its mouth.

With keys in his hand and a confusing sense of accomplishment, he used the corkscrew on his Swiss Army Knife to dig at the roots and dirt around the hole. The knife probably would have been more efficient, but there was no use risking slicing his leg open or dulling the blade.

After freeing himself, Anders promptly went back to the Keeper’s cabin to find some pylons. The last thing he needed was some little kid dropping down a hole on city property. Besides, he was pretty sure he heard something scampering around in the underground tunnels that moved a little quicker than a mole.


	2. The Birds and the Troll

Anders sat in the bell tower, four hours into his shift, and came to the conclusion that he was incredibly bored. He had categorized the bookshelf by subject, swept out the entire tower, and polished the bell until he could see every hair of his moustache reflected in its surface. Nearly eight hours left of his shift and he had done everything he could conceive of that would keep him occupied. Why had he thought this job would be exciting? He was a professional watcher in a town where nothing really ever happened.

He went for a walk. Officially, he thought, he was going ‘on patrol rounds’ if anyone asked - but mostly he just needed a break from the tower. He found himself wandering along the outside of the wall, out in the semi-wilderness of the surrounding area. The skies were clear and that indeterminable smell of nature was everywhere. Not such a bad situation, all things considered.

When he saw the troll rock, Anders was actually a little startled. The fear of trolls had been drilled into every child in Trolberg for since birth, just about, and it was that residual fear that made him subconsciously place his hand on his bell.

Of course, at thirteen minutes past noon, there was nothing to fear from this rock. In fact, after some thought, Anders was intrigued at the idea of being able to observe a troll in a safe environment. This one was sitting in a little alcove of pine trees and there was a frenzy of chirping and flapping wings by the trolls outstretched hands. A bird, black with white speckles on its wings, was viciously attacking the enclosed fist of the frozen troll, shrieking like a banshee. Anders thought it might be a European Starling.

He shooed the bird away to take a closer look at its target. The trolls hands were folded together, as if it was holding something fragile. Peeking into the space between the rocky fingers, Anders could see a mess of twigs and sticks. He got his flashlight from his belt and found that, among the twigs, were three little blue eggs. It was a nest. In retrospect, it seemed a bit obvious, but he was surprised at the turn of events.

This was a dilemma. He didn’t feel he could leave the nest within the trolls grasp, but he also didn’t think he would be able to retrieve the eggs without crushing them.

He half-jogged back to the bell tower and went inside to the utility closet. He retrieved a large blue tarpaulin, one side made of a reflective material to keep in heat, and a length of rope. Once back at the troll rock, he wedged his Swiss Army Knife in between the trolls' hands.

His stomach rumbled, and he sat on a nearby stump to enjoy a sandwich before he continued with his plan. This situation wasn’t all that time-sensitive and his mother had taught him the importance of a full stomach.

It took a bit of finessing to get the tarp all the way over the troll. He got to a safe distance as quickly as he could and almost immediately heard the characteristic scraping sound of the troll becoming unfrozen in the darkness beneath the tarp. Anders didn’t want to give it very much time to move, but he also needed it to loosen its grip on the nest. He forced himself to count to fifteen, and then he yanked on the rope he had attached to the tarp.

The sunlight flooded onto the grey skin of the creature and the effect was almost instantaneous. It let out a half-formed moan as it turned back into stone. Anders was relieved to see his gambit had paid off. His Swiss Army Knife had been enough to stop the troll from accidentally crushing the eggs in its confusion upon waking up. Best of all, its huge hands had separated enough to free the nest completely.

Anders placed the nest in a nearby tree where he thought it would be safe, and it wasn’t long before he heard the mother Starling return to her children. He turned on his heel, gathered his equipment, and began his walk back to the tower.

Sitting back in his keep, Anders listened to the soft hum of the wind against the bell behind him as he read the opening chapters to a new book. It was the first one on his shelf: Arctic Foxes, Badgers, and Other Burrowing Mammals of Greater Scandinavia: The Complete Guide by Laila Aaberg in the subject section of ‘Animals.’ His plan was to work systematically through the entire bookshelf.

The light reflecting on his page seemed to get substantially brighter, and he happened to look out at the skyline just in time to see a bird, the largest he had ever seen and pure white, descend from the sky as though formed from a sunbeam. Anders wiped at his eyes as they brimmed with water.

It perched on his windowsill and looked just a little less like a messenger from Valhalla. Anders noticed it had some yellow plumage and a face shape similar to a dove, but beyond that he didn’t think he could identify the species. He could almost hear his father’s disappointed sigh.

The bird held a little circlet of intertwined green twigs in its beak, and Anders had a strange urge to put out his hand. He did so slowly, and the bird dropped the ring into his open palm. It fit onto his smallest finger perfectly, and he felt somehow lighter when it touched his skin. Upon closer inspection he noticed how carefully woven the green strands were. In fact, he couldn’t figure out where the branches ended; they seemed to flow continuously and perfectly into one another to form the braided loop.

With a gentle nod of its head, the white bird turned and flew gracefully away, one with the winds. Anders sat, jaw agape, completely flabbergasted at this experience. He was sure he had drifted off while reading and had unknowingly slipped into a dream, but a quick check of the exquisite ring on his left hand left no uncertainty.

His bookshelf yielded no answers to any of the thousand questions now roaring through his head. Anders checked every page of every book he had on birds, and a few on miscellaneous creatures, but with no results. One thing was absolutely clear to him without having to read it in The Pocket Guide to Birdwatching: he had just gotten into someone’s good graces. Just who that might have been remained a mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, a mysterious fantasy ring! Yes this is going to turn into a LOTR crossover fic, Anders has just received the lost fourth Elven ring and will be controlled by Sauron in the next chapter. Tune back in to find out if we're lying or not.
> 
> I wonder witch public receptacle of knowledge Anders might have to visit to get some answers about this new mystery?
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (Disclaimer: This fan fiction is set in the world of Hilda, years before the events of the show. We are doing our best to remain close to canon as possible, but as Hilda is still in production this may change over time.)


	3. The Keeper of the Books

The young guy with the moustache was in the library commons again, and Kaisa couldn’t remember the last time she had seen someone devouring books like that. He had at least four open at any time and would switch back and forth between the pages with an urgent intensity that reminded her of a paranoid meerkat.

Kaisa loved the library at this time of day. Empty and endless. The skylight windows were letting in the afternoon light, casting the dusty shelves in a soft yellow glow. The hauntingly energetic music of Night Whisper was playing in her earphones and the library was even quieter than usual. This was her happy place. If only that one guy would just finish up and leave, Kaisa would have the whole library to herself. She could finish up and go practice for her Runic Divination exam. It was a bit noisy when the spells backfired, as they so often did, so she couldn’t exactly practice with anyone around.

Kaisa finished sorting the small stack of books left on her cart and very suddenly found herself with nothing to do. Her music ended and the next song that came up was a little too melancholy for her mood at the moment. She put her earphones around her neck and impulsively decided to go and talk to the meerkat man. He definitely wasn’t leaving anytime soon and she couldn’t seem to come up with anything better to do. She scooted out the seat across from him and sat down, picking up a book on the table titled White Wilderbeings of the Wider World. She didn’t recognize it.

It took longer than Kaisa expected for him to look up from the dusty pages, but when he did it was obvious that he didn’t know what to say.

“Where did you find this one? I don’t seem to recall seeing it on the shelves.”

“In the deep storage section, downstairs. I ran out of books on the general shelves so I had to expand my search a bit.” He spoke clearly, and with a slightly deeper voice than she had expected from him.

“And what, exactly, would that search be for? I might be able to help, you know.”

“I had considered that, actually. But I saw you over there with your headphones on and I didn’t want to bother you. Besides, if I explain what I’m looking for there’s a good chance you’ll think I’m out to lunch.” He checked his watch. “Which, technically, I actually am. Suppose I shouldn’t take too much of an extended break.”

“You’ve been here for, like, six hours. And, if you don’t mind me saying so, I already think you’re crazy with the way you’re sitting here reading twelve books at once like a madman, so you might as well give me some explanation.”

“Alright, alright. It’s pretty simple really, I’m looking for a bird. A white bird, specifically, with yellow on its head feathers and that’s really big and possibly capable of granting divine blessings. And making high-quality jewelry.”

Kaisa didn’t respond. She sat in silence for a minute and allowed her inner magic to do its work in her mind’s eye. There was no spell involved, but the title of The Keeper of the Books came with a certain connection to these shelves that was difficult to define. It was like the library itself knew what she needed and gave her a shove in the right direction.

“Come with me,” she said, pushing her chair out and setting off at a steady clip. He seemed to be keeping up just fine; now that he was standing she could see that most of his height was in his legs.

“What else can you tell me about this bird?” She asked, partially to help refine their search and partially out of genuine interest.

“I was sitting, reading…”

“Unsurprising.” She fought hard to keep her face completely deadpan.

“Uh, yeah. Anyways, the bell tower has a big window and she came and landed right next to me. Gave me this.” He thrust out his hand in Kaisa’s direction, showing her a green ring on his pinkie like someone might if they were newly engaged.

“Okay. First of all, why were you in a bell tower? Second, how do you know the bird was a girl?”

“I guess I don’t know she was a girl, it just… I don’t know, seemed like a girl? I guess most birds look like girls to me. And I’m a Keeper of The Bell, so the bell tower is where I spend a lot of my time now. I’ve only just started recently.”

“Oh? Well I’m the Keeper of the Books, so I guess we’re two of a kind. Sorta.”

“I guess so!” He was walking behind her, but she could tell he was smiling when he said it. “So where are we going?”

“The secret shelves,” she said, with her best attempt at a haunting smirk.

And with that, she turned and disappeared around a corner where there had previously been a wall of books. The shelf had opened into a doorway, smoothly and without a sound, as if in anticipation of Kaisa’s approach. That never got old. “Watch your step!”

The secret study was lit just enough so that a person wouldn’t have to strain their eyes to read. The perfect mood lighting. Technically the lights were magical, but you wouldn’t know it to look. Enough of the general public found their way in here that the magic was still kept well hidden. A cozy looking armchair was tucked in the corner, and Kaisa once again reminded herself that she should come in here to read more often.

“Well, colour me impressed. I’m sure this is one of Trolberg’s most well-kept secrets.”

Kaisa nearly laughed aloud.

“Yes, I guess we try to keep it tucked out of the way. But, technically speaking, it’s available to the general public. You just have to know where to look. Ah, here we are.”

She stopped at the shelf and found she was only just able to reach high enough to grab the book. Wondrous Creatures and Where One Might Locate Them.

“Try page 223, or around thereabouts.”

He flipped to the spot with deft fingers; he’d obviously been doing a fair amount of page-finding lately.

“The Aviana, Patron Mother of Birds,” he read aloud. “The Aviana most often appears as a large white songbird, sometimes reported to have a wingspan of nearly three metres. Sightings are rare, averaging about once every four years, and are of varying credibility. The Aviana has been reported to bestow gifts upon those she has favoured: floral wreaths, lost pets, missing personal items, and baskets of food are all among the items bestowed by The Aviana.”

At this point, Kaisa was pretty certain he had forgotten she was in the room. He was enthralled, and she suddenly realized that he had never told Kaisa his name.

“Several people have claimed to receive specially empowered stones and clothing from the Mother Patron that gave them special abilities. In these rare instances, individuals have reportedly been able to summon birds, increase eyesight, and even survive falls from great heights. In one case, a man claimed to have an extended lifespan due to his encounter with The Aviana, though his actual age is highly contested by those close to him.”

He stopped reading aloud, but his eyes stayed glued to the page. Kaisa sat on the nearby footstool and made a game of trying to guess his name, as she often did with the strangers in the library. Leif? Or perhaps Johann? She couldn’t quite pin him down.

“It goes on for a bit, but that’s the gist of it. There’s a couple hand-drawn images that look close enough to the bird I saw, so I think this must be it. It also says that, at the time of publishing, there hasn’t been a sighting in over ten years.” He flipped to the front of the book. “Only published two years ago, looks like.”

“So, what, that little ring she gave you is supposed to have magical powers or something? Are you going to sprout wings in the middle of the public library?”

“No, I don’t think so,” he chuckled. Then he looked a little worried. “I certainly hope not, in any case.”

“Well, there you go. I hope you live a very long life. If you’d like to sign out that book I’ll have to give you special permission at the main desk. I’m pretty sure that’s all the information you’ll find on your bird, unfortunately.”

“No, please, this is great - you’ve been very helpful. I think I will sign it out, just in case I end up needing it. How long can I take it for?”

“Technically the limit is 14 days, but I don’t think anyone will be too upset if you keep it a bit longer. Just get it back to me within the next thirty years or so.” Kaisa knew he wouldn’t get the joke, but she had spent enough time with Tildy that she was starting to pick up some of the older witch’s humour.

Without much more conversation, the two found their way back up the stairs into the main stacks. At the front desk, Kaisa once again remembered that she didn’t know the man’s name, so she asked him.

“Anders. Technically that’s my middle name but I’ve gone by it since I was a kid. Is that okay?” He sounded hesitant, as if he might accidentally commit fraud by using his middle name.

“Yes, it doesn’t much matter for our files. I’m Kaisa, in case you were wondering.”

“Thank you very much Kaisa. You’ve definitely got a way with these books.”

“Sometimes I think that the books have their way with me. Can I get your phone number?” She spoke nonchalantly while writing down his information in her ledger, and was surprised to look up and find Anders looking a little flushed.

“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea, but I…”

Kaisa simply could not contain her laughter. Tears sprang to her eyes as she took in his embarrassment.

“I need it to sign you out the book, not to date you. Trust me, you’re not my type anyways.”

“Oh, I see. Of course.” Relief washed over his face as he gave his phone number.

“I’m sorry for laughing, it’s just that it’s been awhile since anyone thought I was hitting on them! Probably since grade school, now that I think of it.”

“No need to explain, I get it.” He stood with his book, and Kaisa could tell he was ready to leave but not sure how to end the conversation.

“Are you parked in the back? I could let you out the employee entrance if you want.”

“Sure thanks.”

They walked to the back of the library in an amiable silence. There was something enchanting about footsteps echoing in an empty building like this. With another short farewell she watched him walk out towards his car in the back parking lot.

When she closed the employee entrance door, Kaisa heard a light rattle of metal instead of the expected lock-click. She investigated and found that the lock had been broken, perhaps with a screwdriver. Damn. Technically it was her responsibility to lock up the entire building every night, but for the past three evenings she had barely remembered to lock the main entrance before rushing off to the Tower for night classes with Tildy.

Someone had broken in, but for what? She resigned herself to the fact that she would have to begin on a full inventory tomorrow. Even with the assistance of magic it would probably take her all week. Her shift was up and, for now, she had an exam to study for. One catastrophe at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Librarian is incredibly cool. That is all.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> (Disclaimer: This fan fiction is set in the world of Hilda, years before the events of the show. We are doing our best to remain close to canon as possible, but as Hilda is still in production this may change over time.)


	4. The Invasion of the Book Snatchers

Kaisa woke up to the sound of glass breaking. Her wand was in her hand almost immediately and she was just a little bit pleased with her reflexes. 

She must have fallen asleep while practicing her divination - the shallow clay Bowl of Tanneris had spilled part of its contents on the table, the milky-grey potion formed a puddle on the study table. Dozens of tiny runes carved into the clay were supposed to grant ‘aethereal sight,’ but all Kaisa had seen so far was her reflection. 

She almost had forgotten the breaking glass that had woken her. As a general rule, Kaisa studied in the secret room on the library’s fourth floor, as it seemed to her the most concealed from the general public. Whoever was breaking in could not have known that The Librarian was still in the building, so the element of surprise was Kaisa’s greatest weapon. 

Thinking of weapons, she figured that her knowledge of offensive magic was probably not good enough to help her if she got in a confrontation: with an effort, she lifted the double-headed decorative axe off its display mounting brackets and heaved it over her shoulder. It was heavier than she had imagined. She wasn’t actually sure she would be able to swing it, but at least it made her look _intimidating as hell._

__With a grunt she opened the secret door to her study room, the shelves sliding smoothly on magical hinges. Kaisa tried not to make a sound as she stepped out into the ‘G’ section of the stacks entitled _'History of Regional Politics.' _A thick layer of dust covered most of the books and a substantial amount of the carpet.___ _

___Kaisa found her way down to the main floor. Something she couldn’t quite put a name to was gnawing at her, an unease born from her connection to the library, as if the shelves were becoming annoyed with being burgled._ _ _

___When she finally turned the corner into the main foyer of the library, she was very confused by what she saw. Four men, from her initial count, were very sloppily walking around the stacks, picking individual books off the shelves seemingly at random. Each of them had their eyes shut, as if they were sleepwalking, and consequently spent a fair amount of time walking into walls and knocking chairs over._ _ _

___A cold draft ran over the back of Kaisa’s neck. She turned to see the ground-floor window they had broken and the glass shattered across the carpet._ _ _

___A few of the men began moving slowly towards the broken window, their arms loaded up to their foreheads with books. Kaisa moved toward the closest burglar - a wide-shouldered, tattooed man she thought she recognized from somewhere - and took half of his book stack out of his arms. Setting the books on a nearby table, she grabbed the rest of the books he carried as well. His shoulders slumped and, turning on his heel, he went to collect more books._ _ _

___“Oh!” she said aloud, before realizing there wasn’t anybody listening. She had realized where she knew the man with the tattoo: he attended the Scrapbooking Club that met at the library every week. He was actually a very lovely person, she thought, from her limited interactions with him._ _ _

___Kaisa tried snapping, pinching, flicking, and yelling in their faces. She tried pushing them over and commanding them to wake up in her best impression of a hypnotist. She even briefly considered kissing them, since that’s what seemed to work in the fairy tales, but then decided that she had no desire to do such a thing._ _ _

___And then she wondered why it only seemed to be men that were under the influence of this hypnotism? Was this the work of some twisted witch or creature of the night?_ _ _

___Kaisa didn’t get a chance to finish her thought. Emerging from between the stacks was a fifth figure, and this time it was a man she recognized._ _ _

___“Anders?” Predictably, he didn’t reply. He had a small stack of books in his hands, grabbing volumes off the shelves without even glancing at them._ _ _

___Enough was enough. Kaisa surveyed the room to ensure that none of the men had too many books collected and then hurried off to find a spellbook. Just last week she had bookmarked an _infinite rope _spell that she thought might come in handy.___ _ _

___It was remarkably easy to tie the sleepwalking men up: Kaisa simply took the books out of their hands, shoved them backwards into a chair, and secured them to the chairs with a Sparrow Scout knot. The rope unraveled endlessly from a dimensional hole she had created with her incantation, the portal glowing a light purple-blue and emitting a nearly imperceptible mist. She wondered where it led, or what would happen if she thrust her arm into the interdimensional space. Or maybe just a finger. It was not unlike standing on the edge of a cliff and having that inexplicable urge to leap._ _ _

___She tied up a total of seven men, after finding a few more wandering among the shelves. Her work completed, she set about solving the mystery the only way she knew how; she unknotted the rope that held Anders, his yellow jacket bunched oddly around his chest, and watched as he calmly rose as if nothing had happened. Lifting a stack of books from the table, he made his way toward the broken window. Kaisa grabbed her coat and followed him closely._ _ _

___Anders made his way through the city, and Kaisa walked alongside him trying to identify some of the books he was carrying._ _ _

____'Ancient Runic Scripts from the Savages of the Hinterlands: An Incomplete Dictionary' _and _'From Cuneiform to Cursive: A Comprehensive History' _were the first two she was able to read as the stack of books swayed in his arms. Anders must have grabbed them from the same shelf, because they were both by the same author, T. Grenwright. Another book, more ornate than the others, was entitled _'Enchanted Empires and Cursed Castles' _, and seemed to be a collection of short stories and semi-popular children’s fables.______ _ _ _

___All the other books were stacked with the bindings against Anders’ chest, so she couldn’t glean any more information regarding what he might be stealing them for. Kaisa supposed she could simply take some of the books from him, but she worried he might turn back to the library to collect more. Better to simply follow him until they reached his destination._ _ _

___They walked for the better part of an hour, criss-crossing through the streets of Trollberg, and Kaisa determined they must be walking towards the eastern side of the city wall. Perhaps that was where Ander’s bell tower was? She was pretty confused at this point, but also growing more and more curious._ _ _

___She spotted a nissae peeking out from beneath a pile of alley trash, the characteristic potato-nose standing out in the dark of the night; it must have been kicked out of its house. A startlingly large pack of stray rats moved in the light of the streetlamp, dropping through a sewage drain with a great splash. Kaisa suddenly wished she had brought that axe along with her._ _ _

___Finally they reached the city wall. They were indeed very close to one of the impressive-looking bell towers, but Anders (or, at least, Anders’ sleepwalking body) didn’t seem very interested. Instead, he found his way to a small wooden door leading to the outside of the wall. What had she gotten herself into? The last time she had been outside the wall on foot was years ago, back when she was still very nearly a child._ _ _

___Kaisa wasn’t necessarily scared at the prospect of going outside the wall, it was more of an intense feeling of unpreparedness. Armed with only her wand and the clothes on her back, she was grateful that the night was relatively mild - her grey dress only went down to her knees and her tights didn’t provide much protection against the cold. Her wand was not to be underestimated, however, and she remembered the old tongue-twister that Tildy was fond of: _‘Witches with wand and wit will woo wyverns with wondrous wishes!’ _She hadn’t thought it made much sense, but that was Tildy for you.___ _ _

___They lost sight of the wall surprisingly fast. Anders was walking in a straight line now, more or less, heading deep into the thick woods. Kaisa realized they were walking beside a quiet brook, which soon became a steady stream. The silver light of the moon glinted through the leafy canopy and created beautiful dancing light on the water._ _ _

___Strange shadows seemed to move just beyond Kaisa’s vision, and she wondered if they were truly alone out here. She tried to convince herself that this was just an unfortunate trick of the moonlight. But, of course, moonlight wouldn’t make those rustling sounds._ _ _

___The discomfort set in, and Kaisa decided that enough was probably enough. Perhaps if she took more extreme measures to wake Anders up, she would be able to work with him to find their way home. There was no way she could live with herself if she left him out here. Besides the obvious threat of trolls, these woods were crawling with red wolves, giants, and all manner of inexplicable wild magic._ _ _

___With just a bit of desperation creeping up in her, Kaisa pushed the stack of books out of Anders' arms onto the soft dirt of the forest floor._ _ _

___“Anders!” She spoke loudly in his face, and felt like the trees around her might not like her disturbing the quiet. _Screw the trees. _Kaisa shouted Anders’ name at the top of her lungs, and - quite to her own surprise - slapped him across the face.___ _ _

___It still didn’t work. He bent over to start picking up the scattered books and, in one final act of rashness, she planted her boot against his backside and sent him toppling into the river._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mystery! Intrigue! Draaamma! Tune in next week to find out what befalls our courageous heroes!
> 
> \---
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comment if you've got a comment yo, we love hearing from people.


	5. The Witch and the Wilderness

Anders woke up feeling like he had been slapped in the face - all over his body. The chilling mountain water stung against his skin and tore down his throat. He spluttered and found that most of it shot out through his nose. 

He felt small hands on his back, helping him up out of the water, and he turned to see the Librarian standing in the middle of the wilderness. 

“Are you… alright?” She asked him in that lilting Swedish accent, looking more guilty than she probably had any right to be. 

“J-just c-c-cold,” he stammered. “W-where…” 

His chattering teeth wouldn’t let him finish his sentence, but the Librarian seemed to understand his question. What was her name again? Karma? Kendra? Oh right, Kaisa. 

“Out beyond the wall somewhere. Honestly I’m not quite sure. Actually, I was following you, but I’m not sure if you knew where you were going either.” 

Anders was almost done sorting through the thousand questions flying through his mind, when they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Kaisa almost knocked him over, pushing him behind a bush. They huddled together in silence, his clothes still soaked through. 

“Do you think it could be a troll?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady. “I’ve actually never seen a troll at night. Just in textbooks, mostly.” 

“I suppose it could be, but it doesn’t sound heavy enough. Definitely only two-legs though, from what I can tell.” 

The man that walked out of the shadowy trees could not have looked any less like a troll. He was thin and short, and wore round glasses that seemed to contrast his close-cropped haircut. In his arms he carried books stacked up to his chin. 

“Why is he carrying all those books? And why is he all the way out here?” Anders whispered. 

“Ah, well I haven’t really told you the whole story,” Kaisa said, her voice seeming loud in the relative quiet of the forest. 

But the man carrying the books didn't seem to notice. Anders thought that perhaps the man couldn’t hear Kaisa at all as she kept talking. 

“I think we should follow him. Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything on the way.” 

“Into the forest? But I’m soaked!” 

“Oh, right.” Kaisa reached beneath her cape and retrieved a long, frail-looking stick. Attached to one end was something that looked a little like a fancy doorknob, or perhaps a jewel. As she waved it through the air in front of him, it began to leave a faint purple glow. 

Anders wasn’t sure how to react. He began to feel the cold damp seeping from his clothes. The whole ordeal was over surprisingly quickly, and somehow he had even more questions than before. 

“Was… was that magic?” 

“Oh. Um, yeah. Don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want to get burned at the stake or anything.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Anders couldn’t stop his mind racing. He had gotten pretty good at playing it cool, but it was a lot easier to act nonchalant with magical creatures than it was with a real life witch. 

Kaisa picked up several books off the ground nearby and set some of them in his hands. 

“Here, help me carry these. We might need them later. Besides, I wouldn’t be a very good librarian if I just left my books out in the wilderness.” 

“Sure. But can you please start explaining what’s going on? I’m about to have a mental breakdown, I think.” 

“Sorry Anders. It’s all pretty confusing to me too. I’ll explain what I can about tonight, but we’ll have to save the witch stuff for another time. I’m not really supposed to reveal those kinds of secrets anyways.” 

He listened intently as Kaisa explained everything in great detail, and he thought she was a distinctly talented storyteller. The accent probably helped. 

They caught up to the man carrying the books without too much trouble. He seemed to be heading deeper into the vast forest that surrounded Trolberg. Kaisa’s wand glowed purple in the darkness, lighting their path. 

“So, what do you think is wrong with this guy?” Anders asked. “Is this some sort of witch spell, do you think?” 

“Well, I suppose it could be. I’ve never seen anything like this, but that isn’t saying very much. I’m pretty new to all this. I’m technically still an apprentice.” 

“Well it’s definitely not natural,” said Anders, waving his hand in front of the young man’s face. 

“Magic is perfectly natural. But I suppose you’re right, it is a bit out of the norm. Most spells and incantations I’ve seen have some sort of glowing magical light happening. This… this is just like sleepwalking, really. Very adventurous sleepwalking.” Kaisa gave a quick look over her shoulder and the deep shadows of the forest. Her wand glowed a little brighter. 

The dense wall of trees opened up into a small clearing, and the sleepwalking man strode right to the middle. By the light of Kaisa’s wand, they could see a large mound of books that had been piled haphazardly on the moss and stone of the forest floor. The man added his books to the pile, turned around, and returned the way he had come. 

To make matters worse, Kaisa’s wand light began to flicker. 

“I can’t keep this up forever, Anders.” 

“Okay,” he replied, “why don’t you put it away for now in case we really need it later.” 

And so they were suddenly in total darkness. He waved his hand in front of his face and couldn’t see a thing. He heard Kaisa move over to the stack of books. 

“What should we do?” Anders asked into the darkness, and for a second he was scared no one would reply. “

Well, we could go catch up with our sleeping friend. I’ve probably got enough light for that. But then we’d be walking in the dark.” 

“And we wouldn’t have any more answers to this little mystery of ours.” 

“True,” said Kaisa. “The other option is to wait until morning, which is probably only a couple hours away now. I don’t think it will rain tonight, and I think we could probably follow our own trail of footprints back to town. We were pretty much walking in a straight line, from what I could tell.” 

“Alright, let’s stay here for now.” 

He heard her walking again, and this time she really didn’t respond. Anders watched as she walked past him, her eyes fixed on something in the distance. It dawned on him that he could see her, faintly, in the dimness. 

Following her line of site, he peered through the trees and saw that she was walking towards a white horse, glowing faintly as if bathed in moonlight. They got a bit closer, and Anders realized it was standing ankle deep in the shallows of a wide creek, grazing on some overgrown weeds on the bank. 

“Do you think it’s safe?” he asked. 

“It’s just a horse, Anders.” Kaisa’s voice was almost normal, just with a hint of dreaminess. 

“Well, it doesn’t seem like a normal horse. But then again, I’ve had some luck with radiant white animals lately.” 

“Exactly. Besides, as a witch, I have some responsibility to learn what I can about the natural forces of the world. Knowledge is the first weapon in a witch’s arsenal.” 

“Alright, alright.” 

They were only a short distance from the horse now. The creature turned its head in their direction, shook its mane, and seemed to stare directly into Kaisa’s eyes. She approached it without apprehension. 

Gesturing with its head, the horse seemed to indicate that it wanted Kaisa to get up onto its back. She hopped up with a certain grace that Anders wasn’t sure he would be able to achieve. 

The horse set off at a steady canter, seeming to almost walk on top of the water. Kaisa laughed as she held its mane to keep from falling off, and Anders was almost jealous. Childish joy lit up Kaisa’s face and he smiled back at her, wondering at the absurdity of this situation. 

A whinny of delight rang throughout the forest as the horse played atop the waters of the creek, and the sound was full and musical. It made Anders want to dance, like a well-played violin tune; in fact, he might have started a hearty folk dance his mother taught him, if Kaisa’s screams didn’t release him from his reverie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters down! Hope you're enjoying it! Tune in next Monday to get some answers to a few mysteries...
> 
> Thanks for reading! You're a real gem. Probably.


	6. The Huldra

Anders turned just in time to see the head of the white horse submerging beneath the black water. Kaisa’s chin was just barely keeping above the bubbling surface, and the horse was steadily dragging her down into the depths. He knew he already wouldn’t have enough time to save her, but - throwing off his jacket and kicking off one of his steel-toed boots - he prepared to dive in anyways.

Whiplash thrummed down his spine and his mouth filled with mud as he hit the ground. Even more strange, he felt someone taking off his remaining boot. How odd, at a time like this. Incredulous and still reeling from adrenaline, Anders got himself onto his back just in time to see a young woman throwing his shoe into the creek.

She was blonde, with pale skin and a lithe build, and she threw the heavy boot like a shotput. A little scream escaped her mouth as she heaved the boot, and Anders watched it disappear in the water not far from the top of Kaisa’s thrashing head.

Then the stream erupted. The water exploded into the air in a thousand tiny droplets, and for a moment Anders could just see Kaisa, collapsed on the muddy riverbed. Something large and black, like a massive tangled knot of brookweed and mud, fled downstream.

Anders jumped in the water as it settled back into its regular flow. Kaisa had still not come up, and the stream was deeper than he had initially thought. Plus he needed his boot back.

He summoned skills that he had not practiced since earning his Swimming patch in Sparrow Scouts, almost fifteen years ago. Struggling to keep his eyes open beneath the dirty running water, he found Kaisa more by accident than skill. His hands groped along the riverbed and, just as he was considering going back up for air, he grasped her ankle.

Getting her to the surface was less difficult than Anders imagined, but he still didn’t know if he had acted quickly enough. She didn’t seem to be breathing.

 _Chest compressions._ He knew that was what you were supposed to do first, but he couldn’t remember when the mouth-to-mouth came in. He did ten compressions before trying to blow air into her lungs, but that didn’t feel like enough.

“Move over, you’re going to kill her at this rate.” The mysterious blonde who had stolen his shoe was standing over him. She seemed to have a hard time keeping the disdain out of her voice.

Anders didn’t say a word. She seemed like she knew what she was doing. To his surprise, however, she didn’t start chest compressions at all. Instead, she simply stuck her finger down Kaisa’s throat - exactly the opposite of what Anders had learned to do - and when she pulled it out a little dancing stream of water followed.

Kaisa spluttered awake. She gazed around the midnight forest, looking surprised to be alive. Her eyes landed on the beautiful girl and she spit up a little more water.

“You may call me Raella,” she said, answering the implicit question in Kaisa’s stare. When she spoke, her voice seemed to echo in Ander’s mind. _Raella_.

“That is not my real name, of course. True names have wondrous power out here among the fey and the spirits of the wild. Not like in that bumbling city from which you’ve come.”

Anders knew that if she looked about five years older he would have been immensely attracted to Raella. As it was, she looked no older than eighteen. She wore a pale yellow shawl over a white dress and, oddest thing of all, she seemed to have a long tail, its tufted tip flicking back and forth near her bare feet. When Anders noticed it, he had to resist the urge to reach out and grab it like a toddler snatching a cat’s tail; he had a feeling it would lead to a similar result.

Finally, Kaisa spoke. She had to clear her voice a couple times before she could get it out.

“If you don’t mind my asking, Raella - what are you?” Kaisa looked sheepish, and Anders couldn’t quite tell if she was blushing in the low light. Speaking of which, he just then realized that Raella was glowing faintly, providing some light in the pitch darkness.

“My sisters and I are called Huldra. We were born of the Water and of the Song, when the forest was first formed.” She turned and began walking towards the large pile of books in the forest clearing.

Naturally, Anders and Kaisa quickly followed her. He thought it was funny, how this teenager had two adults hanging on her every word, scampering around in the dark like pigeons after an old man with a loaf of bread.

“That creature of the water - the brook horse - is our brother. He is called Nøkken, and we have been at odds with him since the river was only a tear shed from our Mother’s eye.” As she spoke, somehow both grave and nonchalant, Raella picked up a book off the pile and began scanning its pages.

“But you don’t wish to know about that,” she said, shutting the book in her hands and turning towards Anders and Kaisa. “You two are probably quite tired, I imagine. You’ve had quite the ordeal. If you would like, you can come with me. I have a place you can rest.”

Anders looked at Kaisa.

Kaisa looked at Anders.

She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged his shoulders - they had come to an unspoken agreement.

“That would be great, thank you,” said Kaisa.

And the pair of them followed Raella deeper into the wilderness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry we're a day late! Let us know what you think of the latest chapter? Let us know in the comments :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> This fan fiction is set in the world of Hilda, years before the events of the show. We are doing our best to remain close to canon as possible, but as Hilda is still in production this may change over time.
> 
> Feel free to ask us any questions you might have! How do you like the name Anders? Where do you think the story is going from here? What familiar characters would you like to see along the way? Let us know on AO3 or on tumblr @frankie-in-the-ferns and give us a follow!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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